Yemeni Government Suspends Participation in Peace Talks

Despite the positive atmosphere of the Yemeni peace talks which prevailed during the past few days, the United Nations envoy for Yemen on 1 May 2016 announced that the Government’s delegation suspended its participation in the plenary sessions because of reports received from Amran governorate.

A missile remains on a road in Sana’a, capital of Yemen. Photo: OCHA/Charlotte Cans

“We understand the reasons that lead to this decision; however we urge all the parties to engage in good faith and demonstrate wisdom in their participation in the talks, Yemenis are counting on them,” said UN Special Envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, in a statement.

“We believe that all difficult issues should be discussed at the negotiating table in a transparent manner, in order to reach a comprehensive agreement which will put an end to this kind of incidents. We are not underestimating the importance of what happened or what is happening,” he stressed, adding that the only path to a solution is through a peaceful dialogue with full adherence to Security Council resolutions.

Cheikh Ahmed further noted that the UN is in constant contact with the De-escalation and Coordination Committee (DCC), and through it with the local committees, to investigate and halt all breaches of the cessation of hostilities. On 10 April, both parties had committed to adhere to its terms and conditions, which the UN envoy had presented.

After communicating extensively with the delegation of the Government of Yemen and meeting the leaders of Ansar Allah and the General People’s Congress delegation this afternoon, the envoy confirmed that he had received assurances from the parties regarding their commitment to resolve the outstanding issues without convening joint sessions.

According to the statement, United Nations political experts are currently reviewing the documents presented by the two delegations in order to identify common ground between them; the world body hopes to resume the talks and build on the tangible progress achieved during the past two days.

Meanwhile, United Nations Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon today called the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Sabah Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and thanked him for his country’s constant support to the UN in the Middle East and for hosting the peace talks. (Source: UN).